KOREA UNIVERSITY Department of Philosophy

Academic Goals

The Graduate Program in the Department of Philosophy aims to produce scholars who are able to do independent research in philosophy and have critical and rational intellectual thought through studying Eastern and Western philosophy and theoretical and practical philosophy.

Fields of Study

Asian Philosophy
Western Philosophy

Degree Requirements

1. To ensure that a variety of course works are taken for credit, the following courses are mandatory for the candidates in the master's and Ph.D. program.
   • 1)Master's and Ph.D. candidates in the Eastern Philosophy track must complete for credit at least one course from each of the respective four subject areas:
     Confucian Philosophy _ Taoist Philosophy _ Indian/Buddhist Philosophy _ Korean Philosophy
   • 2)Master's and Ph.D. candidates in the Western Philosophy track must complete for credit at least one course from each of the respective three subject areas:

     (1)History of Philosophy

     Ancient Western Philosophy _ Study of Ancient Western Philosophy I, II, or III _ Seminar in European Medieval Philosophy _ Seminar in Continental Rationalism _ Seminar in British Empiricism _ German Classical Philosophy _ Seminar in Ancient Western Philosophy I or II _ 19th Century European Philosophy _ Contemporary European Philosophy _ Contemporary Anglo- American Philosophy _ Seminar in History of Western Philosophy I or II

     (2)Theoretical Philosophy

     Epistemology _ Study of Epistemology _ Philosophy of Science _ Metaphysics _ Seminar in Philosophy of Science _ Study of Hermeneutics _ Study of Phenomenology _ Study of Philosophy of Language _ Study of Philosophy of Mind _ Seminar in Contemporary Epistemology _ Seminar in Contemporary Ontology _ Study of Theoretical Philosophy I or II _ Intensive Reading in Theoretical Philosophy I or II _ Seminar in Contemporary Philosophy of Mind _ Seminar in Contemporary Philosophy of Language _ Modern Logic _ Seminar in Logic I or II _ Study of Philosophy of Logic _ Study of Philosophy of Mathematics _ History of Logic _ Modal Logic _ Study of Methodologies in Western Philosophy

     (3)Practical Philosophy

     Ethics _ Philosophy of History _ Philosophical Anthropology _ Seminar in Ethics _ Study of Philosophy of Religion _ Study of Philosophy of History _ Study of Pragmatism _ Study of Marxist Philosophy _ Study of Philosophy of Art _ Study of Social Philosophy _ Philosophy of Politics _ Philosophy of Law _ Seminar in Philosophy of Life _ Seminar in Existential Philosophy _ Comparative Study of Philosophical Schools _ Study of Practical Philosophy I or II _ Intensive Reading in Practical Philosophy I or II

   • 3)Consultation with the course professor and the departmental chair is required to determine to which subject area any course offered by the Department that is not listed in the four subject areas will belong.
   • 4)Mater's and Ph.D. candidates in Eastern Philosophy must take for credit at least one course (minimum 3 units) from the Western Philosophy track, and Ph.D. candidates in Western Philosophy track must take for credit at least one course from the Eastern Philosophy track (minimum 3 units).
   • 5)Substitutability of relevant courses offered in other departments can only be determined after consultation with Department supervisors.
2. Course Registration Guidance: Master's and Ph.D. candidates must seek guidance from their advising professor before registering for course and the advisors must supervise that the candidate is taking appropriate course work.
3. • 1) Advisor Designated Course : Master's and Ph.D. candidates must take for credit the undergraduate courses listed below. In case that, however, they have taken these courses at undergraduate or graduate level, Advisor Designated Courses can be excluded.
     
     

     Advisor Designated Course

     Major	Code	Title	Credits	Remarks
     Asian Philosophy & Western Philosophy	PHIL 209	Symbolic Logic	3
     	PHIL 220	Ethics	3
     	PHIL 222	Epistemology	3

   • 2) In addition to the above list, designation of additional courses could be determined by the tutor professor. For example, professor of Western ancient Philosophy can determine Greek, Latin or Greek mythology and tragedy.

Qualifying Examination

1. Ph.D. students in Eastern Philosophy must choose three from the following four areas and pass written examinations, three in total, one each from the chosen areas, and Master students in Eastern Philosophy must choose two from the following four areas and pass written examinations, two in total, one each from the chosen areas.
   • - Area1:Korean Neo-Confucianism; Korean Silhak(Practical Learning)
   • - Area2:The Hundred Schools; Song-Ming Confucianism
   • - Area3:Indian Buddhism(Pre-modern); Eastern Asian Buddhism(Modern and Pre-modern)
   • - Area4:Taoism
2. Ph.D. students in western Philosophy must choose three from the following four areas and pass written examinations, three in total, one each from the chosen areas, and Master students in western Philosophy must choose two from the following four areas and pass written examinations, two in total, one each from the chosen areas.
   • - Area1:Logic
   • - Area2:Ancient and Medieval Western Philosophy; Modern Western Philosophy
   • - Area3:Contemporary European Philosophy; Contemporary Anglo-American Philosophy
   • - Area4:Epistemology; Ethics
3. In principle, two professors would submit questions for each written examination.
4. Professors can assign texts from which the examination questions from depending on the respective professor's requirements.
5. Ph.D. dissertation cannot be submitted for review in the same semester that the candidate seats for the written examinations.
6. Students should obtain permission from his or her academic advisor to take the comprehensive examination. Students are not allowed to register examinations more than required in number.

Dissertation Requirements

1. 1.Master's Dissertation
   Master's candidates must submit dissertation approval form from the advising professor, transcript, and three copies of the dissertation to the dean of the graduate school division by the following deadlines (thesis approval form must list the fulfilled required course work).
   • 1)Intended February graduation: September 1st of the previous year
   • 2)Intended August graduation: March 1st of the same year
2. Ph.D. Dissertation
   • 1)The candidate must have at least one papers published in the registered(or candidated) journals in National Research Foundation of Korea or in the international journals(A&HCI or its equivalents).
   • 2)The candidate must submit a copy of each of the published papers, dissertation approval form from the advising professor, transcript, and three copies of the dissertation to the dean of the graduate school by the following deadlines (dissertation approval form must list the fulfilled required course work).

     (1)Intended February graduation:June 1st of the previous year
     (2)Intended August graduation:December 1st of the previous year

3. Preliminary Review
   Within one week after receipt of the application for review of the dissertation, the graduate representative of the department will consult with the candidate's advising professor to form a review board composed of three professors so that the review process can proceed post-haste(Before this can take the dean of the graduate school must confer with the Department supervisors to determine all the candidate's documents are in order and that the candidate has fulfilled all the graduate school's and department's requirements).
4. Dissertation Review Committee
   2/3 of the preliminary review board must approve the dissertation before it can be submitted to the graduate school's dissertation review committee. Procedures and regulations of the graduate school division will apply for the dissertation review committee.
5. Master's candidates must take a foreign language proficiency test listed below. (The language of the test should not be same as one taken in the Korea University Graduate School; for an exemption, see General Graduate School Rules for Operation Chapter 6 Article 48 of School Regulations for Graduate Schools)
   

   English _ German _ French _ Greek _ Classical Chinese _ Chinese _ Others approved by the Department

Addendum

1. Section 3 in the Degree Requirements applies to candidates admitted from the spring semester of 2016. After Sep. 2nd, 2013, the Qualifying Examination Rules will be applied to all students regardless of the date of admission. After Mar. 1st, 2014, the section 2 in the Dissertation Requirements will be applied to all students regardless of the date of admission.

2. Complications due to changes in Degree Requirements will be conferred to by Department supervisors to determine the appropriate course of action. In certain major cases, a conference of the Department's professors will be called to ascertain the appropriate course of action.